Japanese school pupils threaten to kill themselves over bullying

Japan's education ministry has received a second letter, believed to be from a student, warning of a plan to kill herself, a ministry official said yesterday, amid growing concern about whether enough is being done to stop bullying in schools.

Earlier this week, the education minister, Bunmei Ibuki, received a letter from a student who said he had been bullied at school and would kill himself on Saturday if the situation did not change.

"This is a matter of life or death, so the education ministry will deal with it swiftly," the chief cabinet secretary, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, told a news conference. "We want him to treat as precious the life received from his parents and ancestors."

The ministry received a second letter yesterday, in which a schoolgirl warned that she too was considering killing herself, an official, Teruho Nakashima said. Kyodo News agency reported that the new letter, believed to be from a second-year high school student, was also addressed to Mr Ibuki. The writer warned that she would kill herself tomorrow, "along with the people who have bullied me. I can't forgive the people who bullied me. I will kill them, kill them, kill them - and die."

The education ministry was trying to locate the student based on the letter's postmark, which was from a Tokyo post office. "We can't say this is a hoax, we have to treat it seriously," a ministry official said/

The letters come amid a string of suicides by children who reported being bullied at school. The deaths have grabbed public attention at a time when debate is hotting up on education reform, a key part of the conservative policy agenda of the prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

Mr Abe wants to revise a 1947 law setting out the aims of education to put more stress on traditional values, mutual cooperation and patriotism, but critics have questioned whether such changes would help to resolve the problem of bullying.

In early October, a boy in southern Japan hanged himself inside a barn, leaving a note saying he that could no longer stand being bullied at school.

A 14-year-old girl in central Japan hanged herself at home in late October. The Japanese media reported that she had been bullied by members of the school basketball club.

Yesterday, a 17-year-old girl apparently jumped off the roof of the junior high school in western Japan where she had graduated, Kyodo reported. It was unclear whether that case was linked to bullying.